Newcastle United to be fined millions by UEFA for spending rule breach despite Alexander Isak sale: report

Newcastle United are back in the Champions League this season and therefore must abide by financial controls imposed by the competition's governing body UEFA.

In the Premier League, clubs are allowed to lose up to £105 million over the course of three seasons, but in Europe, that figure is halved.

Newcastle's recent financial reporting, concerning the period 2022-2025, indicates the club can expect a financial sanction, similar to those handed down to Aston Villa and Chelsea in seasons past.

Newcastle braced for financial penalty after projected UEFA spending breach

According to The Athletic, Newcastle appear to have 'comfortably breached' UEFA's £52m loss limit.

The club are not able to include the profit made on Allan Saint-Maximin and Elliot Anderson's sales to Al-Ahli and Nottingham Forest, respectively.

Saint-Maximin's move was deemed to have been made between two related parties (Newcastle and Al-Ahli are both owned by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund), while Anderson's switch to Forest was regarded by UEFA as a swap deal, which saw goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos heading the other way.

The pre-tax loss submitted to UEFA for the 2023-24 season alone comes out at £38m, leaving the club little room to manoeuvre.

Prior to the above season, Newcastle spent heavily on their squad to level up Eddie Howe's side, subsequently posting a significant pre-tax loss in their 2022-23 accounts.

Newcastle's financials are expected to be somewhat healthier in their yet-to-be-released 2024-25 accounts due to increased revenues, however, the losses incurred during the two previous seasons are likely to be substantial enough to mean the club faces a fine for breaching UEFA's spending rules.

Alexander Isak's British record sale to Liverpool will be taken into account for the 2022-2025 period, although, Newcastle are unlikely to report the profit to UEFA as one lump sum. The £130m fee recouped will help considerably in lessening the strength of the financial sanction imposed upon the Tyneside club.

Aston Villa and Chelsea were each fined by UEFA earlier this year for violating the organisation's financial rules.

Chelsea's fine consisted of an immediate £27m payment, with the possibility of an additional £52m in penalties if the Blues do not adhere to the terms of their four-year agreement with the Club Financial Control Body (CFCB).

Similarly, Aston Villa were required to pay a £9.5m fine upfront and could face a further penalty of up to £13m if they fail to comply with their three-year settlement agreement.